Flame
by TheClothDiary
Summary: Bonnie and her friends are excited to head off to college for the first time together; however, they will soon come to realize that the university and its students are not what they seem. Their experience at Whitmore will expose them to certain dangers, passions and secrets of the supernatural that test friendships and reveal deeper connections to a world hidden from society.
1. Welcome to College

**Disclaimer**: Bamon-centric and features Stelena/Klaroline.

* * *

><p>Flame<p>

Chapter 1: Welcome to College

A soft light trailed over a young girl immersed in a dream so strong, she had barely heard the obnoxious noise that was her alarm. It had been buzzing for at least ten minutes, because when she opened her eyes and turned them to the device, it was already nine-thirty five. She had promised her friends that she would meet them at nine-thirty to carpool to university.

Seconds after rubbing the salt from her eyes and brushing her dark hair from her face, another loud noise filled the room. She groaned and turned over to pick up a lime-green touch screen phone vibrating around on her dresser.

Before she could say hello, the voice on the other end spoke.

"Bonnie, did you oversleep?"

It was Elena.

Bonnie sighed. "I totally set my alarm for nine o'clock, I swear. I guess I was enjoying my dream a bit more than I thought," she chuckled. There was some ruffling going on and another voice spoke into the phone.

"We knew you would, which is why we decided to get to your house by nine. We're outside."

Bonnie recognized that snarky prep-school girl voice anywhere; it was Caroline Forbes. It went against every part of her existence to be tardy and she wasn't surprised at all that Caroline would pull a stunt like that. They knew Bonnie well, because this certainly wasn't the first time she had slept through her alarm.

Forcing herself from the comforts of her childhood room, she rushed to throw on some clothes and headed for the doors, dragging one large black suitcase behind her. As she opened the front door, she yelled to her grandmother. "Grams, the girls are here. I'm heading out now!"

Caroline rushed past Bonnie as soon as the door opened and grabbed a few of the bags she saw placed near the entrance to help her. "I'll take these to the car." She said. Bonnie could hear some shuffling from the second floor (where her grandmother's room was) and waited at the base of the carpeted stairs for her to come down.

She turned the corner, pushing her brown curls into place. She must've been taking a nap, because her eyes were puffy; but as she came close, Bonnie could see that she had been crying. Her face saddened.

"Oh, Grams don't do this. You know I can't do this." She said softly, trying to keep her composure.

The woman was well into her sixties, but her brown skin kept the youthful appearance of someone in their forties. She was a strong woman and very rarely got upset to the point of tears. Her Grams had raised her since her mother left her and her father took off after her when she was really young; she was all she knew and more than a mother to Bonnie. It broke her inside every time she thought of saying farewell to her Grams, but it was something that she knew she had to do.

The small woman reached the base of the stairs and embraced the young girl. "You be careful, now you hear?" she whispered.

Bonnie gripped her tightly; not wanting to believe this moment had really come. She wasn't going too far (Whitmore was only twelve miles from Mystic Falls), but to leave her for any distance felt terrifying.

"I will. We've talked about this, Grams. I have to go to school, so I can help support you. You've worked so hard for me to grow up safe and to make something of myself…this is my chance to make you proud." She choked on her words a bit. Saying farewell wasn't easy no matter how many times she practiced.

Her Grams gave her a watery smile. "I know, dear. I have no doubt that you will be great. Just remember to not let any boy distract you, now. College is where all you young folk like to gallivant and experiment with—"

"Graaaaaaams, please!" Bonnie's tears soon turned to awkward groans. "I thought we agreed to not talk about that kind of stuff. You know I won't let a guy get in my way of success." She exclaimed.

Her Grams smiled with an approving overtone this time and walked her to the door a couple feet away. "I was going to say it's where people experiment with who they are; it's where you will surely find yourself."

She waved to Elena and Caroline, who had mounted her luggage into the car and waited patiently against the doors. "Let me know when you girls get there, alright?"

They nodded and waved back at her with smiles, bidding her farewell. They had many sleepovers at Bonnie's house growing up and her Grams made the best pancakes. She was like a second mother to them, and her house a second home. It was a tall brick house that had been in Mystic Falls for almost forty-years and a lot of people in the town knew of its presence. The home was known for its landscaping (the trees rarely withered) and the garden was always healthy even when others were not. Townspeople had come to rely on Grams for remedies and tips on how to take care of their lawn and their health. She was one of those ladies that just seemed to know a bit of everything.

Grams stayed at the door until they locked themselves inside safely and drove out of the driveway. She put one hand against her heart and closed the white door, wiping a falling tear from her eyes as—whom felt like her 'second batch of daughters'—flew the nest for the first time.

* * *

><p>Large patches of forest flew by the white Honda windows and what was left of a summer breeze reached all of the girls in the car.<p>

Caroline readjusted the rear-view mirror and caught sight of Bonnie moving around uncomfortably in the back seat. "Bonnie, are you alright?" she asked.

Elena pushed her straight brown hair behind one ear and turned to view her. Bonnie looked to them and smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay. It just feels a little weird to be going to college, you know."

Elena gave her a sympathetic smile. "Telling them goodbye is always hard; I couldn't stop crying when I told Jeremy I was leaving this morning. But Whitmore isn't far at all, we can come back and visit whenever we need to."

"Yeah, and think of all the freedom we have now!" Interjected Caroline. "Think of the parties, the boys, the hookups and drama, the boys…"

This caused a series of laughter to break out amongst them. Caroline was usually very honest about her feelings, never sugarcoating anything. She knew what she wanted to do from the second she was accepted. To be honest, it was a time that they all needed to experience; they needed to get out of Mystic Falls for once and meet new people and explore new things. They had a lot to learn and they had to start sometime.

It wasn't long before they pulled up to the gated entrance (which had been opened for move-in) to the university. On their way in, crowds of people—students and their families—roamed the sidewalks carrying pillows, large crates and suitcases to the dorms. They parked in a small parking lot in which they were granted thirty minutes of free parking to carry their belongings inside.

"Thirty minutes?! Are you serious, that's not nearly enough time to take my stuff up!" she complained. Elena and Bonnie shook their heads; she had packed the most stuff out of all three of them. Caroline had one suitcase just for her shoes.

They got out of the car and began pulling their luggage from the backseat and the trunk. Elena was struggling to take out one of Caroline's bags, pulled a little too hard and it fell to the ground, releasing (you guessed it) a lot of her shoes.

"Elennnaa!" Caroline threw her arms up and put two furry pillows under them securely.

"It's fine, Caroline. I'll fix it, you go ahead." Elena spoke, kneeling down to pick up the fallen heels.

Bonnie paid little attention to this as the sites of the campus had taken her hold. She looked around at the vast lawns where students played football and soccer and where some girls had taken it upon themselves to sunbathe. She could smell the Diner food—which didn't smell all that healthy, but it did smell delicious. She felt excited to be in this new arena where she would make something wonderful of herself.

"Hey there, let me help you with that!"

Bonnie turned to the source of the noise. There was a man in his early twenties that hurried over to Elena, who was still picking up shoes and placing them back into the suitcase. Bonnie said nothing, but examined him as he approached. He had slightly pale skin, seemed about six foot with medium brown hair combed back in what reminded her of Danny from _Grease_. He was slim in figure and looked like he took good care of himself. His voice was calm.

He knelt down next to Elena and picked up some of the shoes he saw her reaching for, smiling. Elena noticed him instantly and blushed a bit. "Thank you so much. I just…underestimated how heavy it would be. My friend has way too many shoes." She mumbled.

The man laughed. "She must be high-maintenance with all of these. Certainly going to fit in good around here."

Elena studied the curves of his face. He seemed chiseled and strong—two things she adored in a man. When they had finished packing the shoes into the suitcase, they stood to their feet. Bonnie came around to meet them at this point with Caroline not too far behind. They gave her a look to introduce them. She choked on her words a bit, holding her arm out in their direction.

"Uh sorry, these are my best friends, Bonnie and Caroline." She said.

The man gave them both mannered handshakes and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Stefan."

He then turned to Elena, who had been staring at him. "And…you are?" he laughed as she shot back into reality.

"Um, right! Ha, I'm Elena Gilbert." She shook his hand, holding it for a bit longer than normal.

"Well it's nice to meet you ladies. Freshman, are we?" he asked.

Caroline nodded. "Yes, we are and we have no idea how to unload all this stuff in thirty minutes—which is probably twenty-five by now."

Stefan let go of Elena's hand gently. "Well, I'm happy to help if you need an extra hand." He spoke. Caroline instantly replied. "That's so nice of you, thanks! We'd love your help!"

Bonnie grabbed onto her arm, tugged at her sleeve and pulled her closer. "What are you doing, you know we can't just show him where our room is! That's how dangerous things happen, Caroline. We literally just met the guy." She whispered.

Caroline shrugged. "Oh relax, Bonnie. We aren't giving him the keys or anything. What's the worst that could happen? He knows where our dorm is, but so will like…every other person that we meet here." Bonnie said nothing and proceeded to grab what bags she could lift. She followed swiftly behind Stefan, examining him as best she could. Other than his good looks, he seemed—so far—harmless, but she couldn't shake this feeling that there was something different about this guy.

They entered the eight-story building and unloaded at the seventh, where their triple was located. In the elevator, they had learned that Stefan was a junior engineer major who traveled from South Carolina to attend Whitmore. When they walked in, they were surprised to see how spacious it was. "I told you I'd get us a nice room." Caroline smiled to herself. She always did know how to get her way.

The room was larger than most typical dorm rooms with plenty of room in the center for a couch or three yoga mats. Elena had a thing for yoga at six in the morning, so that would most likely be what they did. The room had two large windows, which faced the sun and invited much natural lighting. There was one bed on the east side of the room and a bunk bed on the west. Caroline had already unloaded her stuff on the single, so there wasn't much negotiating. Bonnie and Elena didn't mind though; it was probably better to have the picky one in a space all to herself.

Stefan came in and placed what he had in his arms on the floor beside the closet and turned to the girls. "Well numbers helped a lot; was that everything?" he asked.

Elena nodded. "Thank you for your help, Stefan." He headed for the door but Elena spoke again before he could leave. "Hopefully, we'll see you around campus."

Stefan smiled at her. "I'm sure we will, Elena." They all knew that she was referring to her personal interest in him; her flirting could not have been more obvious. Stefan left the room and accidently brushed up against Bonnie's arm, sending a cold shiver through her entire body. Images of young women in old English attire dancing around a open bonfire came to her mind. Then flashes of laughter turned to screaming; she saw blood running down their arms and a dark figure standing over them. A slight pain hitched at her abdomen and she snapped back into reality. When she came to, Stefan had already been well down the hallway.

She looked around the room in confusion. "Bonnie?" Elena paused.

Bonnie shook her head a bit, trying to get her bearings and began unpacking. She looked around and noticed that Caroline was not there. "Where did Caroline go? She inquired.

"She went to go move the car. She'll be back. You were standing right beside her when she said it. Are you alright? You looked kind of dazed." She spoke.

Bonnie ran her fingers through her dark straightened hair. She had recently cut it in celebration of this new chapter of her life and was still adjusting to short hair. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just zoned out for a second."

* * *

><p>The clock read eight thirty now and the girls had just gotten back from eating at the diner. The food seemed healthy at first, but since Bonnie was a vegetarian, nothing seemed edible. Luckily, they'd learned that there were more options in the student center on the other side of campus. They finished their unpacking to Caroline's story about how she met a really cute guy when she got lost on her way back to the dorm earlier that morning.<p>

Elena spent hours surfing the Internet for Stefan's profile and Bonnie was lying on the top bunk, staring off. She thought back to Stefan and tried to come to grips with what just happened. What was that? Was she daydreaming or something?

Not minutes later, they could hear other girls on the floor giggling and commenting on each other's outfits. Caroline, being naturally curious, poked her head out of the already open door to find a group of girls dressed to go out. She had recognized one of the voices from the diner. She looked at the Victoria Secret wannabe blonde bombshell and her tight black dress and called to her. "Rebecca!"

The girl turned in response and went to hug Caroline. They talked for a minute and soon informed the others that she and her friends were going to one of the nightclubs. It didn't take Caroline long at all to decide that she wanted to go and urge the other two to come along. It would be their first college party experience and they were not going to miss it.

It took around fifteen minutes for the girls to get ready. Caroline had something packed for that exact occasion for days now. She was wearing a short skirt (not too different in style from Rebecca's dress) and a chique white top with black heels to match. Elena dressed in dark skinny jeans, a floral top and dark heels. Bonnie took the less dramatic route and opted for a graphic cutout top with black shorts and wedges.

The group had become familiar in no time at all. They had learned that Rebecca was a transfer student from London and the youngest of five—and the only girl. Most of her brothers had long since graduated. She had been to Whitmore to visit one elder brother before, so she knew her way around pretty well. The moon was bright now and the clouds moved slowly in front of it. Time seemed to pass slowly when they looked to the stars and a chilled breeze brushed against their exposed skin. Bonnie said little for most of the journey; she was too preoccupied in thoughts of Stefan and what she saw when she touched him. She wondered if he'd experienced it also.

When they arrived at the nightclub, there was a long line of both guys and girls in similar attire waiting to enter. The bouncer was checking I.D. at the front, which alarmed Elena. Caroline had found some 'Caroline way' of obtaining fakes before they got to campus, but they had never used them before.

"Caroline, what if these don't work? Bouncers are supposed to be good at these kinds of things." Rebecca smirked. "Don't worry about that, darling. I know these guys well." And she wasn't kidding, because as they approached the gates, she pointed out all the girls in her group and they opened the ropes to let them pass. "Remind me to take you wherever I go." Caroline joked.

The two-story club was loud, obnoxious and packed with people already. Different colored lights flashed against the crowds on the dance floor and glided over those on the balcony above. People were dancing rather provocatively for what they had been used to, but Caroline and Rebecca seemed to adapt well. Elena and Bonnie climbed their way to the second floor balcony and sat down on one of the leather couches in the corner. There were couples making out against the walls and friends playing pool together near the edge. "Who knows what stuff could've happened on this couch." Bonnie spoke. It was difficult to hear anything each other were saying because the music was so loud. Elena tucked her long hair behind her head and caught a glimpse of combed back brown hair in the distance. "Stefan!" she yelled.

The man turned his head in the direction the words were coming from and met eyes with Elena and Bonnie. He walked over to them with the same mannered smile as before. He had his hands behind his back and opened them to embrace Elena. "I told you, we'd see each other again." He spoke.

She blushed. Bonnie wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, she focused in on his eyes. Nothing about him seemed abnormal, but what she saw was too hard to ignore. She followed a bit farther behind them as the two walked towards the edge of the iron balcony when they were suddenly interrupted. A pale, strong arm latched itself around Stefan's shoulders and a pair of icy blue eyes came out of the darkness.

"Well who do we have here…?" the man asked, staring hard at Elena's body.

Stefan did roll his eyes and pushed the arm from around his shoulders. "What are you doing here, Damon." He groaned. Damon was a little shorter than Stefan, with dark hair that met the nape of his neck in slight waves. His eyes were an icy blue and pierced through everyone who met with them.

There was something attractive, but…strangely terrifying about him. He looked like exactly the type of stereotypical guy that her Grams had warned her about hanging around. This thought became more apparent as a couple of drunken blondes wiggled themselves under his arms. He smiled at them and took a gulp of his beer. "What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm having fun! Let's party!" his eyes went back to Elena.

"So you gonna introduce me or what, brother?"

"Brother?" Elena questioned.

Stefan sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ladies, meet Damon; Damon meet Elena and Bonnie. I met them this morning when they were moving in."

Damon examined Elena again with a devious look on his face. "Elena…" he whispered.

Stefan pushed him away. "Get, Damon. Take your girls elsewhere." He urged.

Damon shot back another batch of the beer in his hands and put on a fake frown. "Aww, you want her all to yourself, ha? Okay, little brother. I'll give you this one. I'm hungry, anyway." He spoke and turned away.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and watched him (and his groupies) disappear into the crowds of multi-colored lights. She soon left Stefan and Elena to talk and headed for the bathroom to catch her breath.

The hallway was a dark, crowded alleyway with trash on the floor and diluted party music going on. It looked exactly like what she thought it would; vile and unsanitary. _Welcome to college_, she thought to herself. The line for the girls' bathroom was far too long and she felt impatient, so she decided to find the boys'. She reversed in direction and turned the corner, somewhat unknowingly to find herself in an empty hallway with a dark green door at the end. The more Bonnie stared at this door, the more the entire hallway began to shift through her eyes. Images of blood and the sounds of screaming girls rushed to her ears again, causing her to panic and run towards the door.

When she reached it, she turned to find an open room with old furniture, chipped floral wallpaper, scattered clothing and in the center, two girls. They were lying—one piled on top of the other—in a pool of blood that stained into the old beige carpet. Their eyes were still open, but unmoving. In shock, Bonnie froze; she could hardly breathe. She didn't want to believe that what she was seeing was real.

Suddenly, a thud was heard in an adjoining room, which frightened her back into reality. It sounded as if someone was groaning. With a shaking body, she gripped onto the wall and slowly slid herself towards the source of the noise. She turned her head slowly around the doorframe to find a man passed out on the floor with his head on the toilet seat. Bonnie rushed down to his side, grabbed his head in her palms and turned it to face her. Her lips quivered and she nearly dropped him when she realized who it was.

The man groaned in pain and Bonnie met with a pair of piercing blue eyes once again—each time, they came to her from the darkness. It was Damon—the guy she'd met not an hour ago. Covered in blood, he stretched his arm out and grabbed onto a gold necklace she was wearing.

"I didn't—" his voice trailed off soon after and the room began to shake around them. In the distance, they could hear screams and someone yelling to call 911. Someone would soon find them. Suddenly, the ground started to shake beneath them and Bonnie's vision blurred—the last thing she caught sight of was Damon's eyes fading into a darkness that surrounded them both.

Everything went black.


	2. Illusion

**Disclaimers:** Bamon-centric and features Stelena/Klaroline

* * *

><p>Flame<p>

Chapter 2: Illusion

The sky was a deep blue, the moon hidden behind dark clouds and winds that howled against the small girl's ears. Gusts of wind forced branches of a tall willow oak against the glass, scratching her nerves.

She couldn't concentrate. No older than seven, the young one couldn't ignore the harsh wind, rain and knocking branches that filled her room and kept her from a much needed slumber.

Suddenly a large branch swung into the window; making a loud noise, cause the girl to scream.

It wasn't long until she heard sounds of rushed footsteps approaching her door. The knob turned and the yellow-tinted light from the hallway spilled onto her sheets.

"Bonnie?!" The woman said, rushing to the young girl's side.

Bonnie's covers were pulled over her head, her frightened body curled up underneath. The curly-haired woman pulled the sheets from her granddaughter, revealing her to the open room. "What's wrong with you, child? I thought something bad had happened." She said with a sigh of relief.

Bonnie sat up and latched her arms around her grandmother, shaking against her. "Grammie, I'm scared." She wined.

Grams smiled and placed her arms around the young girl, rubbing her back to calm her down. There had been a rough storm rolling through Mystic Falls recently and young Bonnie had been having trouble sleeping because of it. Worse yet, her cousin had stayed over for a couple of days and had a habit of only watching horror films; Bonnie watched them with him against her Grams warning that they would give her nightmares.

"You afraid of the storm? Child, that's nothing to fear; only a bit of water and air." She motioned the girl away to look at her. "Or is it those movies I told you not to watch keeping you up?" she asked with a knowing expression.

Bonnie nodded.

Grams breathed deeply and reached across to the wooden dresser beside Bonnie's head post. She pulled open the top drawer, fiddled around with the items inside and finally dragged something out. Bonnie's eyes followed her grams' hand as it positioned itself in between them both and she opened it, revealing a thin gold necklace.

Its beauty glistened against the small pieces of moonlight that broke through the clouds. It was a thin, gold chain with a triangular pendant, laced with gold threads and a green jewel in the center.

"What's that?" Bonnie asked.

Her grams wrapped the necklace around her neck and fastened the back. "This necklace is a special necklace. Its light will protect you from any monster or storm, so you don't have to fear anything ever again." She smiled.

Bonnie ran her fingers over the necklace and smiled back at her grams, thanking her for the gift. Soon after, she laid down again, grasping the necklace tightly and looked to the moon that had shone through clearly now. She watching the branches as they beat against the window, but slowly realized that he noise had been dissipating.

What was once a scary sound had become like white noise that lead her off to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Thirteen Years Later…<em>

High sunlight painted golden streaks over brown skin and warmed the resting body. Eyelids twitched and opened slowly at the new feeling.

Blurred vision became clear and sights of cluttered clothing spread out on the floor was the first view Bonnie absorbed as she came to. She blinked a couple of times, felt around her and realized that she was in her bed—under the covers of the bunk bed in her dorm room.

Bonnie looked around again, searching her mind for the events of the previous evening. Caroline was asleep, facing the white wall covered with old high school photos and posters of one of her favorite rock bands. She shook her head slightly; she couldn't remember Caroline decorating the room.

Bonnie could feel movement from beneath her and grabbed onto the metal bar attached to the sides of her bed, titling her head to look at Elena asleep below. It wasn't long before she saw her brown eyes open to catch sight of her friend watching her. They stayed in that awkward staring competition for a bit, both seeming to have something puzzling on their minds. Elena broke the silence.

"Bonnie…" she whispered, trying to respect Caroline's slumber.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "Elena…"

Elena gave her a confused look. "Are…you alright? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Bonnie shook herself back into reality. She didn't know. She looked around the room again, and realized that a lot of her stuff had been unpacked as well. Her books had been stacked on one of the desks with her silver laptop close by. The closet was filled with the girls' clothing, shoes arranged underneath and posters on the walls. She caught sight of a graphic cutout shirt hanging over the back of a chair near her backpack. She stared at it for a while and then examined herself.

"What the hell…" she mumbled with confusion. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and pajama shorts.

"Bonnie, you're doing it again." Elena whispered.

Bonnie didn't turn to look at her this time, but listened. "What do you mean?" she responded.

"You're zoning out again. You were like that all night, too."

Bonnie sat up quickly, nearly knocking her head against the low ceiling above. She couldn't remember how she got back to the dorms. She couldn't remember unpacking her belongings—she couldn't remember anything at all.

"What happened? What do you mean I was like this all night?" she asked.

Elena rustled with her lavender comforter, pulling it up over her face to shield her from the brightening sunlight. "I mean, I just figured it was because of all the commotion at the club. Everyone was pretty frightened." She said. Her voice was muffled, but Bonnie understood most of what she spoke.

She tried again to search her mind for what Elena was referring to, but found nothing. What was going on? Why couldn't see remember anything? She continued to ask questions as Elena let one leg fall out of the covers and clash onto the hard wood floors.

Bonnie asked her to explain the events of the previous night, using the 'she had too many drinks' as a viable excuse. Elena mentioned that she was talking with Stefan on the balcony, drifted off into a story about how charming and polite he was and how there was something more to him that she was interested in pursuing. Bonnie rolled her eyes to most of that until her friend continued to mention that while they were discussing their class schedules, they heard someone screaming. Crowds of people were gathered in the hallway and soon after, an ambulance arrived and everyone was kicked out of the club. Elena didn't seem to know exactly what had transpired, but she said that there was a group being questioned by the local police.

[Caroline rustled a bit under her covers]

"Did you hear any of the conversation?" Bonnie asked, impatiently.

Elena shook her head and stared up at the underside of Bonnie's mattress' wiring. "There were a lot of people talking loudly, so I didn't catch much of it…but I thought I heard her say something about someone on the floor and blood everywhere." She said, unaware that she was now speaking at a regular tone, which caused Caroline to uncover herself from her sky blue comforter.

She groaned and turned to her roommates in the midst of their now obvious conversation. They met eyes with her and apologized for waking her.

Caroline rubbed her eyes and looked to the sunlight streaks that glowed against the floor. "It's fine; I figured this would come up soon, anyways." She said.

Bonnie came from under her covers, exposing her legs to the open room. She climbed down the wooden ladder on the side of the bunk and met her bare feet with the coldness of the wooden floor. "What do you remember, Caroline?" She was anxious to hear as much as she could.

Caroline sat up now, throwing her arms up and stretched them as far as she could. "Not too much, I was pretty drunk. The last thing I remember was dancing with this really cute guy—Tyler, I think his name was…" She snapped back. "…oh, anyway, I was dancing and suddenly the music shut off, everybody freaked and next thing I know, I'm being pushed out of the doors in this huge crowd."

"Yeah, we all met up outside, Bonnie. Don't you remember?" Elena continued.

Bonnie ran her fingers through her hair, coming in contact with a large knot. She paused and realized that she hadn't worn her usual satin scarf to bed. The girls noticed her silence and vacant expression and looked to each other with puzzled faces.

She was doing it again.

Bonnie stood there, with her fingers in her hair and looked around the room for her scarf. She never slept without it—not once since ninth grade when her cousin told her that it would dread overnight. As she got older, she knew that was ridiculous, but it always served as a reminder for her to wear it regardless.

Something was wrong.

"Seriously what drink did you have and where can I get it, because looks like that has a really long after-affect." Caroline snickered.

Bonnie shot back into reality again and turned to her desk where she saw a piece of paper outlining her class schedule on it. "When did I print this out?" she mumbled.

Elena rose to her feet now and walked over to the closet, grabbing hold of a towel and a pair of green shower shoes. "Last night, silly." She ran her hand over Bonnie's shoulder as she made her way for the door, indicating that she was going to the shower room at the end of the hall.

Bonnie looked through the window to the outside world, where she saw other students walking about. Why could she not remember anything?

Caroline reached down into her bag and picked out a booklet, flipping through its pages. "Okay, so we've obviously missed breakfast [looking to the digital clock that rested on the windowsill], so lunch is in thirty. Think you can be ready by then?" she asked with a sarcastic grin.

Bonnie smirked and rolled her eyes at her friend. "Of course." She said, releasing her hair and running her hand over her collarbone. She continued that motion for a few moments and then paused in shock. She rushed back to her bed and searched frantically through her sheets; with no luck, she climbed back down and began rustling through the belongings scattered on and around her desk. Caroline noticed this and spoke.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

Bonnie rose to her feet after looking under the chair and turned to Caroline with a worried look.

"My necklace. It's gone."

* * *

><p>Elena and Caroline had made their way to the ground floor and out towards the Diner that sat about thirty feet away in the center of four dorms. The Diner was a small grey concrete square building with tall linear windows that-if it weren't for the large crowds that circulated in and out-would look rather unpleasant.<p>

While the two of them hard lunch there, Bonnie stayed behind to continue searching for her necklace. With about an hour passing, there was still no luck and she came down to meet up with them in the hopes of getting lunch somewhere else on campus.

"I can't believe I lost that!" She groaned.

Elena sped up to meet Bonnie's pace and put her hand on her shoulder again. "I'm sure it will turn up somewhere…" she smiled, hoping to lift her friend's spirits.

"Could you have left it at the club last night?" Caroline interjected.

Bonnie gasped. "Oh my gosh. We have to go back. Do you think someone will let me in to look?" she asked.

The girls shrugged. There was a slim chance that anyone would be able to get into what was now—most likely a crime scene, but they decided to pursue the journey.

Along the way, the sun started to set, illuminating the campus' beauty in a shade of dim orange. Vast green lawns interlocked tall brick buildings and students scattered amongst them, engaging in various activities. They were now in the center of campus, which was a massive lawn with interchanging paths and a large building featuring Roman columns at the top of its slope. It was often the space that students coming in for orientation visited and a key feature to the campus—the Van Owen Mall. The space was an elongated view of prominence and power, secured on either side with two allées of fully mature oak trees.

Caroline looked down at the campus map she had in her pocket and pointed to the building. "That should be the Van Owen Library." She said. "Rumor has it that most of what happens in there has absolutely nothing to do with studying." She snickered and the girls rolled their eyes.

That rumor most likely came from Rebecca.

Frisbees flew through their view on the twenty-minute walk to the club, which seemed a lot shorter the previous night. In the daylight, the surroundings looked more interesting and that made the extra time worth it.

When they finally reached the street where the club was located, they passed by clothing stores, convenient stories and restaurants of all kinds (which was an unfriendly reminder that Bonnie had not eaten yet). The street was relatively packed with students picking up small groceries and things they may have forgotten on their long travels from home.

At the end of the street of cracked beige stone pavement, the two-story dark blue building stood as eerie as the night before.

"It's strange to see it during the day." Caroline pointed out.

What was known to be an ordinary restaurant and bar during the day was now a police-infested arena with yellow caution tape separating student life and spectators from a local investigation. Policeman were scattered in a few places near the entrance and one walked up to the girls as they approached the perimeter of the tape.

"Closed area, ladies." Said the officer.

Bonnie stepped forward, pushing her bangs to the sides of her face. "Excuse me, officer. I was in this club last night and I seemed to have left my neckla—"

"No one goes in, ma'am. This is a crime scene." He interrupted.

Bonnie sighed. Of course they wouldn't let her into a crime scene; she was just some random student. "At this rate, I'll never find it." She rubbed her hands against her cheeks in frustration, gazing out to the loads of traffic that filled the street intersection.

Caroline shook her head. "Do you remember the last place you had it inside?"

Before Bonnie could respond, Elena caught sight of a familiar face and called out with her arms waving high.

"Stefan! Stefan, over here!"

The girls turned in the direction she was waving to find Stefan standing amongst five other guys. When he noticed Elena, he mentioned something to one of them and they watched as he crossed the street to run to her.

Her face lit up at his presence. "I'm running into you everywhere, it seems." He smiled back at her. Caroline and Bonnie gave each other the same looks they shared when the two first met. The chemistry between them was all too obvious—the kind of blatant flirting that almost made one want to turn away and focus on something else.

"Yeah, crazy what happened last night. I can't believe things like this happen with so many people around." He began.

"Have you heard anything about what happened—who got hurt?" Caroline asked.

"Two girls were found dead in one of the back rooms; I'm guessing they OD'd, but there was apparently a lot of blood…so the police are thinking it was a homicide."

The girls' eyes widened. Homicide?! Bonnie panicked inside. How could she not remember any of this?

Stefan turned to Bonnie then. "Hey, I want to apologize for my brother last night. He can be really…well, himself. His personality takes some getting use to." He joked.

Bonnie looked at him with confusion. "Brother?"

Stefan nodded, now returning her expression. "Dark hair, blue eyes, drunk with girls under his arms? He came up to me when I was with you and Elena last night."

Bonnie smiled in agreement, hiding her amnesia. She had no idea who he was talking about, but she did remember what she saw when they first met Stefan-the screams and blood. Replaying this in her mind, she glanced back at the numbers of personnel walking in and out of the club building.

Could…what she saw have been what happened in that club last night?

She shook her head slightly, telling herself that was impossible, but couldn't take her eyes off of Stefan. There was something that sat wrong with her when it came to him and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Finger…" she mumbled.

This caused the group to pause and turn to her in an awkward silence. "Uh, Bonnie…what." Caroline whispered uncomfortably.

Bonnie looked down at her hand and reached to touch Stefan's shoulder. Upon contact, images of bloodstained carpet came to her mind. Flashes of the same dancing in the darkness. She caught sight of Stefan, who was looking back at her, but he was dressed differently and surrounded with flashing lights of different hues.

He was laughing at something. Her eyes turned from Stefan to a man that latched onto him. In reality she stared at a stop sign across the street, but in her mind, she saw dark hair, pale skin, piercing blue eyes and downward—around his neck, there was a flash of gold.

At this moment, her vision cleared to the real world and she looked around, trying to grasp what was illusion and what wasn't.

"Bonnie, seriously we need to get you checked out." Caroline said. They were quickly becoming concerned for her well-being. This was the third time they had witnessed Bonnie zoning out without warning. They watched as she approached the edge of the sidewalk, starring out towards the other side of the street.

"Damon." She mumbled.

Caroline's complaints were trailing off in the background, but her focus was _clear_ for the first time all day. There on the other side of the street, standing beside the stop sign, she could see a head of dark hair. The slight waves met a black leather jacket and watching the figure turned his head to watch for oncoming free, caused a piercing pain in Bonnie's chest. Suddenly, her heart became heavy with fury, building as the numbers on the crossing meter lessened.

8...7…6….5…

Images of her Grams giving her the necklace raced through her thoughts. How could he have gotten it?

4…3…2...

Her head shook. She met Stefan. She went out with her friends, reached the club, met his brother…the girls under his arms...these visions of blood and sounds of screaming grew louder. Was she going insane? All she knew for sure was that…

1…

Damon was the only common factor.

_On the other side of the street..._

The man raised his hands to run fingers through his dark hair, when a sudden force pushed against his back, sending him forward a few steps.

The man stabilized and turned around to unleash a number of curse words, when he saw a slim girl staring at him with a look of anger. He stood silent for a moment before speaking, feeling her heat from way his position.

"You should watch where you step, chick." He spoke.

Bonnie grabbed hold of his jacket, searching around him for her necklace. He jumped back in confusion.

"Hey, hey! At least buy me a drink, first!" he yelled, attracting the attention of passerby's. She then pulled on his collar, bringing his blue eyes to the same level as hers. He paused for another brief moment, stunned by the red fire he saw in her pools of emerald.

"Damon." She growled.

He smiled and spoke slowly. "Look...I was drunk, okay. I kinda have a habit of hooking up on first the night...but I'm not really the relationship type." He grabbed onto her wrists and released himself from her grip. "I'm sure there is a guy on campus just waiting to pick up where I left off."

Bonnie paused in disgust. He spoke those words with a kind of arrogance that she had never seen before. She pushed him back by his shoulders. "Where is it! I know you have it!" she yelled.

Damon ran his fingers through his dark hair and glanced away. "Look chick, I don't know who you are…and I kinda have somewhere to be, so if you would be so kind—"

"My necklace!" she interrupted.

Damon's eyes froze. He turned his head slowly, turning a surprised glance towards her. Bonnie examined him closely; that look he was giving her meant that he knew what she was talking about. It was almost as if he were surprised that she knew about it. She smirked impatiently, folding her arms across her chest.

"Fine. I guess since you 'don't know what I'm talking about,' you'll have nothing to worry about when I tell the police about the girls under your arms last night…perhaps they were the same ones found _dead_."

Bonnie turned to walk away from him, standing close to the edge of the sidewalk.

His facial expression turned from confusion to surprise and then to irritation in a matter of seconds. Just as the crossing meter changed to white, he grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her backwards and pushed her against the metal pole of the stop sign. He met her eyes again; this time he was the one with fire behind blue.

"You don't remember anything about last night, Bonnie. They wouldn't believe the ramblings of a drunken freshman." He spoke.

She smiled. "I thought you said you didn't know me."

[In the distance, Stefan stared on towards the scene of his brother and Bonnie with a questioning expression.]

He shot her an annoyed look and followed with a roll of his eyes and a series of growls. "What do you _want!_" He mumbled.

Bonnie pushed him back again, releasing herself from the metal pole. "My necklace—and the truth! I know you have it, I can feel it." She spoke.

Damon looked at her for a bit longer, thinking to himself: who was this chick and how did she remember meeting him? "You can..._feel _it?" He wore disbelief on his face.

"Give it!" she yelled.

"Alright! Chill out. I have your stupid necklace." He rustled around and came to a hidden zipper-pocket on the inside of his jacket. Unzipping it, he turned his glare to her and pulled out the necklace. Damon dangled it in front of her, but snatched it away when she tried to reach for it. When she saw it, her hopes shot back up, relieved that her grams necklace—something so dear to her heart—was in good condition. Her patience with Damon, however, was rapidly declining.

"I give you this, and you say nothing to the police, you got me?" he demanded.

Bonnie took a moment and searched his eyes for illusion. There was something different about him—something both he and his brother shared. "Fine." She agreed, half-heartedly.

He smirked and dropped the gold chain into her palms.

"Why'd you take it, anyway?" She asked angrily.

Damon didn't answer, but kept his stare on her. "There are things you don't want to know, little freshman. College is a big change from that cheerleader lifestyle you're use to. If you want peace of mind, I suggest you don't ask questions." His eyes were intense—leaving Bonnie speechless for a bit.

Just as she opened her mouth to yell back at him, Stefan walked over. "Is everything alright over here?" he asked.

Damon smiled at Bonnie and then at Stefan. "Yes. Bonnie and I were just getting...acquainted again from last night. Silly girl forgot her necklace in my bed last night."

Bonnie-turning red-shrieked at his words. "What!"

Before she could go in and rip him a new one, he ran off down the sidewalk. Stefan shook his head and looked at Bonnie. "Don't worry about it, he's just joking…I think." He continued after his brother, waving back to Bonnie as he left.

She watched as Stefan caught up with Damon and opened conversation, trying to shake the cold shiver she got seeing them together.

Wait…how did Damon know she use to be a cheerleader? And just how did he get her necklace without her knowing? If he really _did_ commit those crimes and took the lives of those girls, there was no way that she could just sit back and let him get away with it. Somehow her memory of the previous night—the night she met Damon—was gone and she had a feeling that Damon played a larger role in her amnesia than he lead on. Bonnie still had so many questions that she knew for a fact Damon had the answers to.

For now though, she would play along.

Damon and Stefan were up to something. Something happened last night that they (or someone else) didn't want her to remember and she was going to find out what it was.


	3. Moth

**A word from the author:** Hello, everyone! I want to say thank you to all of those that follow this story and thank you so much for your feedback. I do read every comment, but I figured this space (the chapter) would be the best place to thank you all at the same time. I truly appreciate it. :)

**Disclaimers:** Bamon-centric and features Stelena/Klaroline

* * *

><p>Flame<p>

Chapter 3: Moth

Bonnie turned the corner, rushing pass numerous brick buildings. She tried to balance her attention between looking at her class schedule, the campus map (which was barely legible), and watching where she stepped in the crowds. The weather had gone from a cool spring breeze to a brisk chill that served as a constant reminder of winter's arrival.

Though it took some time, Bonnie finally reached a two-story brick building at the very end of a narrow stretch of buildings. Small trees lined the sidewalks and guided her towards a glass door entrance. She glanced upward to the large lettering engraved into the brick reading: Arlington Hall.

She walked inside and immediately caught sight of the room numbers, letting them lead her towards her destination. "0354…" She passed countless wooden doors and halted in front of a blue door at the end of a hall. "0354."

The door was open and a large number of students were already inside, unpacking their notebooks in preparation for the lecture. Bonnie stepped inside the artificially lit room and sat down at the back of the classroom; she usually picked the back so that she would be closer to the door and just in case of an embarrassing moment in which she would have to escape in a hurry. She took out her notebook and pen and glanced towards the front, where the female professor stood, pulling down the projector screen. She was a tall, statuesque woman in her middle ages with pale blonde hair tied into a large bun.

"Good morning, class." She spoke.

Noticing her English accent immediately, the class focused their attention on her.

"For those of you who've just got into this course, I'm professor Mikaelson and welcome to Criminology 101." Her hands sat behind her as she paced across the room; her posture almost perfect—something that only emphasized every stereotype of the English.

"I will not bother to run through the syllabus again, because success in this class is fairly straight-forward. I give you work, you do it diligently. I ask you questions, you answer them intelligently. I do not take attendance, but by the end of the drop/add period, I will have memorized all of your faces and I guarantee that your absence will not go unnoticed."

Bonnie's eyes widened and she could see some of the other students shifting uncomfortably in their seats at her words. Professor Mikaelson then proceeded into the lesson, introducing the concept of criminology—that they would be exploring the nature, control, management and consequences of criminal behavior.

Thirty minutes went by and she had given an in-class assignment of defining terms while she read. Bonnie looked through her textbook, getting relatively far along, when she could see a man shifting closer to her. She paused instantly and turned to him, meeting a pair of dark brown eyes. His jaw was square and covered in peach fuzz; he had long, dark hair that was combed back and muscles that showed clearly through close-fit black shirt. His attire was more suited for summer weather than what she felt outside. _Must be a frat boy_, she thought.

"Do you happen to have an extra pen I can borrow until the end of class? Mine just conked out on me." He asked.

To her surprise, Bonnie detected yet another English accent. She took a few moments to release her shock and then nodded, pulling a black pen from her bag. She handed it to him and he thanked her. That was her only conversation up until the end of class when the professor dismissed them (not before assigning a lengthy essay).

Bonnie exited Arlington Hall and took out her schedule again to look for her next destination. "Amelia Hall…" she mumbled to herself. Just as she stepped onto the sidewalk to begin her journey, she felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned around to meet her classmates' dark eyes and below, the pen she had lent him.

"You forgot this." He spoke.

She nodded, blushing slightly at his attractiveness. He held out his hand towards her. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Lorenzo, but you're free to call me Enzo."

"Bonnie." She responded, shaking his hand. He smiled. "I heard you say Amelia Hall just a moment ago…is that where you're headed?"

Bonnie turned to walk, inviting him to follow. It was embarrassing that after weeks of being on campus, she still couldn't remember where her classes were. "Yes. I have a Plant Science Lab. Are headed that way too?"

Enzo shook his head. "Not to that particular building, but close. The building next to it actually." He looked forward, catching sight of a girl on a bicycle that swept by them. "Genetics 301." He mentioned. Bonnie stayed silent mostly because of her fascination with his accent, but eventually started contributing to the conversation.

"Wait…301? Are you…a junior here?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, don't let the number on the course fool you; there are probably a lot of sophomores and juniors in that crim class we're taking. I'm an Entomology major, but as of recently, I've taken a particular interest in criminology…besides, I had another space to fill in my schedule."

Bonnie's thoughts drifted to the incident near the club; it had been nearly three weeks since her run-in with Damon—the moment she swore that she would figure out what happened that night.

The pair looked ahead towards a large crowd of students walking rather slowly in front of them. Bonnie was relying on Enzo's navigation to get to her destination now, so she wasn't paying much attention to the surroundings along the way.

"Speaking of crime, I guess everyone's heard about the club?" she mentioned.

Enzo's eyes hardened. "Yes, a bloody mystery, that one. Stuff like that is getting abnormally…normal around here."

Bonnie turned her eyes to him. "What do you mean…normal? Has this type of thing happened before?" she asked.

Enzo nodded. "It's not the first, I'm afraid." Bonnie noticed his skepticism. How many homicides has this school had? And why is it that they surprised no one? Her eyes stopped on the tall Greek-inspired building that lined the tops of the oak canopy on the Mall.

"Well, here you are." Enzo pointed to a tall white building to their left—Amelia Hall—sitting not one hundred feet from the library. He then pointed to a similar building to their right, connected to the slope of the hill they were on with a small bridge. He was indicating that he would then leave her side.

Bonnie waved as he turned away, taking one last stare at his body. She smirked and thanked herself for switching into that class, looking forward to the next time she would see him.

However now, something more pressing raced through her thoughts. She turned to the Van Owen Library; it's presence dominating all other buildings in the area. Perhaps out of all the places on campus, _there_ was where she would find answers to her questions. Perhaps the crimes taken place at Whitmore could tell her something that Damon wouldn't.

She switched glances between Amelia Hall and the library, debating on whether this information was worth skipping class to investigate or not. She had never skipped class before and she decided that she would wait it out and head over to the library after lab.

* * *

><p>The time was now three-thirty and Bonnie's plant science lab ended later than usual. She had plans to get a bite to eat with Elena earlier, but she ended up canceling to hang out with Stefan. That gave Bonnie the afternoon free to search the ins and outs of the library.<p>

Inside the library was a small café with thin glass walls that separated student study groups from the check-in area. There was a metal detector in front of the door, which—to her surprise—didn't pick up her keys. The Café area was the only source of noise accompanied by small whispered conversations here and there as she made her way upstairs. The walls were lined with paintings and subtle wallpaper patterns of various colors and only two floors were carpeted. The atmosphere was cold and relatively silent; weeks in and students were already studying for upcoming tests.

While in her lab, she'd been distracted with constant thoughts of how to begin her research, so she'd ended up using her phone to search the library's website for specific material beforehand and had a good grasp on where she was headed.

Reaching the fifth floor, Bonnie made her way to a section in the far right corner of the east wing. There were thousands upon thousands of books in that building, so one had to have some kind of information that she could use. She sat down at a small kiosk-sized desk where a couple of desktop computers were, awaiting her login information. She searched for crimes on campus and found no results. Shaking her head, she tried again. "Crimes, Whitmore College."

Her eyes squinted as one result popped up on the screen that said there was a collection of articles not too far from where she was sitting, but it didn't seem to have a title. Logging off, she rushed to the area where the articles were, running her fingers over the ISBNs until she reached the one she wanted. She pulled out a small, unmarked, dark green paperback and flipped through a few sections.

Opening the book, she saw what appeared like sketches of knives, swords, spears, images of men and women suspected of crimes throughout Whitmore's history and broad summaries of what they allegedly committed. Part of her was in disbelief that something like this would really exist in a relatively public library, while another part of her wanted to keep reading. She flipped through a couple more sections and paused with confusion at what she saw on the page. It was a small yellow symbol of a flower inside a circle that looked oddly familiar.

There was no associated text besides a small, hand-written number below. "1957."

Bonnie traced the symbol with her fingers for a minute and then it clicked. She flashed back to her childhood home—her Grams' home. She remembered walking into a room in the house that her Grams always referred to as the 'prayer room;' a room with one window and no lamps, so at night, her Grams would fill the room with candlelight. There was no furniture besides an old couch on one side and a wooden stand in the center with a large book resting securely on top. The room was filled with the scent of chamomile.

Bonnie remembered sneaking inside one night and shortly before getting caught by her Grams, she saw a symbol very similar to the one she witnessed in the library.

She continued to flip through the small book, coming across articles on stolen items from the school, fires set by students, and a series of unsolved homicide cases dating back to the early 1880s. It all seemed like a collection of speculations, but it was enough to spark her interest. She ended up checking the book out from the library and after staying a while to complete her assignments for that night, made her way back to her dorm room.

* * *

><p>The sky was a mix between dark blue and gray now and store lights were starting to illuminate the campus. Nightlife was here and (as customary) groups of girls in short skirts and guys with high expectations came out to play. She must've passed by at least three groups similar in composure; apparently, murder wasn't enough to keep students from partying.<p>

Life just…went on.

When she arrived at her dorm and headed into the elevator, she closed her eyes and reflected on that day. Who was she to talk or judge anyone when she knew deep down that Damon was probably responsible for something as heinous as murder, or at the very least, he knew more than she did about it. She searched her mind once again, trying as hard as she could to remember anything at all about that night.

Alas, nothing came to her.

Did he drug her? She wondered. She thought about the joke of her being in his bed and felt her face heat. _Bullshit_. There was no way. No matter the scenarios she dreamt up, or how she denied something like that happening, she couldn't completely ignore the fact that she was in college and situations like that were not unheard of. People needed to be careful regardless of who they are with and watch out for predators such as that…but what was Damon? What was Stefan?

Bonnie reached her room and realized the door was already open. Turning to walk inside, she paused when she saw Elena lying down on her bed with Stefan's body covering most of her. She made no sounds, but waited for them to notice her presence. When they did, the two jumped off of each other, Stefan nearly hitting his head on the bottom of Bonnie's bed above.

"Bonnie!" Elena sat up. "We weren't—I didn't realize you would be back this early." She choked from embarrassment.

Bonnie laughed, not surprised. "It's seven thirty-five." She looked around. "Where's Caroline?"

Elena fastened a few loose buttons at the top of her shirt—still red in the face. "Uhhm, I think she's studying with Rebecca down the hall. Turns out they have English together."

Bonnie placed her bag on her chair and took off the light jacket she was wearing. She couldn't remember the last time Caroline studied earlier than the night before a test.

There's no way they were studying, but she didn't ask any questions. Her mind followed her eyes and ran on Stefan who was also 'putting himself back together'; the chill she felt in her spine seemed to become a normal indicator of his presence. He noticed her staring and decided to get up.

"Hey, I'm going to go use the bathroom. I'll be right back." He said.

Elena smiled. Bonnie watched as he turned to leave the room and then rushed over to her friend, sitting down next to her. "Sorry that you had to see that, Bon. I guess we should make some kind of boy rule," she laughed.

"Elena, is this really a good idea—you and Stefan?" she inquired.

Elena developed a confused stare. "What do you mean?"

Her friend shook a bit to relieve herself of the cold shiver. "I just mean…well to be honest, I feel…I have a bad feeling about him, Elena."

Elena's stare turned to a judgmental on-look, but she said nothing as Bonnie continued. "I don't know how to explain it, really. It's just…something about him—and his brother—that doesn't sit well with me."

Elena shook her head. "Bonnie, you don't even know him. You met him—what like twice? And honestly, I don't think it's him you should be concerned about." It was Bonnie's turned to return the confusion now. "What are you talking about?"

"A couple of weeks ago, _you_ were zoning out constantly. You complain about forgetting huge chunks of time and then you nearly get yourself run over charging after his brother right before you attack him."

Bonnie sat back. She hadn't thought about it but it must have looked really weird from Elena and Caroline's perspectives. To them, Bonnie looked like she was going insane and honestly, it felt like that to her as well.

"Elena, look, I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like they aren't who they seem to be. Something happened to those girls at the club and I think…" Bonnie paused.

"You think what, Bonnie?" Elena continued.

They met eyes. "I think they may have had something to do with it."

Elena rose to her feet with rejection. "Bonnie, what is wrong with you? What are you saying? You think Stefan killed those girls?!" Bonnie was at a sudden loss for words. She didn't know—she couldn't remember.

"I just…something is not right about them, Elena! They know more about what happened that night; I know they do. You have to believe me! Getting so close might not be such a good idea. It might not be safe for you!" she yelled.

Elena shook her head in disbelief. Bonnie was acting so unlike herself, continuing to tell her of how she thinks her memory loss is because of Stefan and Damon. None of that made any lick of sense to Elena, so she just brushed it off.

In her mind, Bonnie was going crazy.

Meanwhile Stefan stood behind the doorframe, eavesdropping over their argument. He'd been standing there for some time and caught most of the conversation—enough to know that Bonnie had bits and pieces of that night coming back to her. Stefan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He opened up his message board and typed a message to his brother, reading:

_"We have a problem."_

Unsuccessful at convincing Elena of Stefan's possible hidden motive, Bonnie spent most of the night getting the silent treatment from her. To occupy that awkward time, she skimmed through a couple of sections of the book that she'd checked out.

Into the next day, she carried it with her to class.

* * *

><p><em>The next morning…<em>

It was around ten o'clock and her Biology lecture had just ended. It would be hours until her next course, so she decided to grab lunch at the very crowded Student Center to kill time.

The Student Center was at the 'center' of campus and featured various student activities such as: fraternity/sorority paving art advertising events and usually had a lot of students passing out flyers. The rude (but often typical) response would be for students to ignore the advertisements and take the flyers only to give them a quick glance and then drop them on the ground. In some cases, the students would take alternate routes into the building just to avoid run-ins with people.

Just as Bonnie reached to open the door to the center, she saw someone grasp the handle from behind her, opening it. She walked in and turned to thank the person, when her heart dropped. Her body froze as she met with a pair of icy blue eyes that always felt like they pierced into her vital organs.

It was Damon.

The man gave her a smirk; seemingly satisfied with the shock he caused her. "It's been a while, Bon-Bon."

At his words, Bonnie instantly shot back into reality and returned his gaze with a harsh glare. "Don't call me that."

Damon placed his hand at the small of her back, motioning her out of the incoming foot traffic at the entryway. To her surprise, she did not get any strange flashes of time like she did with Stefan. "So word around the block is that you're still asking questions."

Bonnie looked at him, confused. How did he—? Her expression stiffened. Stefan must have overheard her conversation with Elena and relayed the information to him. She shook her head and turned to walk away. Damon continued after her, walking uncomfortably close. "I thought I told you to stop asking questions." He whispered.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I have somewhere to be." She picked up her pace, eager to get away from him.

She tried to deviate through large crowds of people and turn sharp corners, but nothing worked. He knew what she was doing and would not leave her side.

When Bonnie reached the overly crowded food court, Damon rushed in front of her, which caused her to stop abruptly. "Move." She said.

He didn't.

Bonnie let out a deep breath. Part of her was slightly glad that he was there because she still had so many questions, but another part was irritated because of all the lies he'd been keeping. "What do you want? You've come to steal something else from me?" she glared.

Damon gave her an irritated smile. "Nope, only to warn you—again—to mind your own business, freshman."

Bonnie took a couple steps back, examining him now. That leather jacket of his seemed to be a constant and still reminded her of the cast of _Grease_. Damon had the bad boy attire and Stefan had the big hair. He was so arrogant. Who was he to harass her as he just did—to threaten her? All of this only helped to solidify her speculations.

"Something happened that night that you don't want me to know about, didn't it." She said, calmly.

Damon didn't respond, but followed a girl in tight jeans that passed them with devious eyes. Bonnie snapped her fingers in front of his face and he focused his attention back to her, frowning.

He stepped closer, invading her personal space to whisper something in her ear. "My patience with you is wearing thin, freshman." He then looked into her eyes. "Stop asking questions and _stay away_; I won't tell you again." His voice was cold and raspy in that moment and his eyes fierce. He meant what he said and it wasn't hard to tell.

Damon stepped back and returned his focus on the girl that caught his eye, re-igniting his smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me; I have a girl to charm."

That was the last she saw of Damon for the rest of the day.

Bonnie had spent most if that afternoon completing numerous assignments and studying for an upcoming quiz at the silence of her dormitory. Her criminology professor just happened to be the type that gave out weekly quizzes. _Why am I taking this class again?_ She thought.

Daylight had fallen, night was rising and the sounds of students pre-gaming next door grew louder. Music blasted and there were clusters of girls running up and down the halls, each time wearing a different outfit and speaking loudly of their plans for the evening.

Bonnie turned to Elena, whom was still avoiding her and then to Caroline who was watching an episode of one of her favorite shows, _False Blood_. The room was silent for the hours only to be interrupted by sudden grunts and gasps from Caroline.

"Caroline, what's that show even about?" Bonnie asked.

"It's about a girl who meets these two vampires and falls in love with them both. You know, the typical one girl, two guy love triangle." She giggled. "I have no idea what's going on plot-wise, but the actors are hot."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I'm so over love triangle plots."

Another hour passed and Caroline closed her laptop, breaking the silence yet again. Bonnie was finished with her homework, Elena was texting away and Caroline was bored. "Let's do something, I'm seriously bored." She said.

"Don't you have homework or something?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline gave her a look of annoyance. "Nothing is due tomorrow so…no." she smiled when she said this, causing both Elena and Bonnie to shake their heads. They weren't the least bit surprised. "And plus, with all this commotion, how would I even concentrate?"

Elena shifted to another position on her bed and smirked. Caroline caught sight of this and stared towards her. "You talking to Stefannn?" she asked.

Elena looked back at her and then to the phone. "Yeees, Caroline. He actually just invited me—us—to a bonfire that his fraternity is hosting tonight."

Caroline jumped from her seat. "We're in!"

Bonnie glared at her, but Caroline shook it off. "C'mon, Bonnie! We haven't gone out since the thing at the club."

"The 'thing' as in the homicide…?" Bonnie interjected.

"Yes, that. Just because something awful happened doesn't mean the world just stops. We just have to learn from those awful things so that we can help prevent them from happening again. Until the police figure out what happened to those girls, we just have to be…careful, I guess." Caroline then proceeded to the closet, grabbed hold of a vintage-looking green shirt and held it up to them. "Now, what should I wear?"

It didn't take very long for the girls to get ready and meet up with Rebecca before heading downstairs. There were maybe seven girls and a couple of boys that made up their party, which in turn, made Bonnie feel a little bit safer walking around at that hour. Along the way, Rebecca had explained to them that one of her brothers is an alumnus of the same fraternity that Stefan and Damon were in. She seemed to have a lot of information when it came to Greek life and Bonnie planned to keep that in the back of her mind.

Frat Row was (in appearance) a series of three-story brick houses arranged in a horseshoe formation around a large open lawn. Each house had large Greek symbols (the initials of their specific organization) plastered above four Greek/Roman-inspired columns that guarding the entryways.

The moon was full and high now, only visible when the clouds swept by. Crowds of people gathered on the lawn with blankets, pool tables and regular tables with small red cups on top.

Bonnie looked around with confusion. "Wait, how is this even aloud?" One of the boys pointed to one of the many police vehicles parked on the borders of the property. "Technically, Frat Row is a separately owned property, so as long as no alcohol enters the school's property, we're good. The popo are probably here to make sure nothing leaves the premises."

"Or join in" another boy mentioned, causing them both to laugh.

In the center of the lawn, there was a small concrete platform; on it, stood a tall (approx. seven feet) wooden creature with large spanning wings and a ring of black powder at its base. "What the hell is that?" Caroline stepped back. Rebecca pulled her blonde locks over to one shoulder. "That's B.B., the bat—our Mascot?"

Caroline and Elena exchanged confused glances. They had been on campus for almost a month and didn't recognize their own mascot, so they stayed silent.

Suddenly a group of guys huddled around the base of the wooden statue, placing a steel lighter at its base and ignited a ring of fire that surrounded the statue. As the flames rose and lit up the dark lawn, the crowd began to cheer. They raised their cups and brown paper bags to the skies and let out a strange noise that Bonnie had never heard before. The noise must have been the fraternity's signature sound, because the boys all seemed to be in unison.

Elena called out to Stefan who she could see clearly now that he stood by the flames. As he made his way over to her, his absence revealed Damon's presence behind him. Bonnie met stares with him and stood for a moment with no words or movement. After a while, Damon broke their stare to walk over to nearby group of girls.

The group that Bonnie was with had, by this time, dispersed to various areas of the lawn; some meeting old friends, some new. Elena was (of course) with Stefan and a group of his fraternity brothers, Caroline and Rebecca were by another group, and Bonnie detached herself from both groups to make her way to the statue of the school's Mascot.

She studied the bat's long wings that stretched out four or five feet to its sides—the light from the flames dancing on its surface.

"Fascinating isn't it?" someone interrupted.

Bonnie turned to her left to find a familiar face. "Enzo?"

She smiled as he walked a bit closer to her, gazing at the statue. "_Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus_." His words left Bonnie utterly confused. She had no idea what he was talking about and her silence made that clear to him.

Enzo laughed. "Virginia big-eared bat—the name of this bad boy."

Bonnie put her hands in her jacket pocket as a sudden chill came over her. "I don't know where schools get the ideas for creatures like this. It's so scary looking."

"Often times, the things we fear are the things that are the least threatening. Bats are amazing creatures, you know. Super-sensitive hearing, nocturnal in nature, hibernate in clusters, eat insects…Plus, in the real world, this guy is not even a sixteenth of this size."

He stopped to laugh again, seeing Bonnie's disgusted reaction. "Not to mention they can fly—something I'm sure we humans wish we could do. However beautiful, they are mysterious nonetheless."

Bonnie looked to him then, watching the light from the fire dance on his skin. "And why is that?"

"Their prey is drawn to them like moths to a flame; so innocent and curious—completely unaware of the predator that lurks behind the light." Bonnie's eyes were glued to his as he said those words, feeling like they sounded familiar in some way.

Enzo seemed mesmerized by the fire, his thoughts seeping into another form of reality as he stared on. Bonnie broke his stare by snapping her fingers in front of his face. He blinked a couple of times quickly, reaching to scratch his head. "Sorry, love. " As she did this, she caught sight of a dark figure on the roof of one of the houses in the distance. Enzo saw her puzzled expression and turned to face what she was staring at. His eyes squinted and then widened again. "Is that…a person up there?"

"They're going to jump!" Bonnie left Enzo's side and ran towards the building. Enzo tried to hold onto her, but she broke free. He rushed over to a nearby officer standing up beside his vehicle and began informing him of the situation.

From the other side of the lawn, Rebecca pointed out Bonnie as she ran and soon, the awareness spread like wildfire.

Bonnie rushed up the entry steps of the house that the figure stood atop. When she got to the door, she banged heavily. In response, a guy with nothing but boxers on opened the door with an annoyed look on his face. He gave a disinterested look when he saw Bonnie. "Whom do you know?" he asked.

Bonnie pushed him back, stepping into the tangy-lit house where she saw a tight staircase to her left. He followed after her as she made her way up.

"Hey you! What do you think you're doing?! You can't be in here!"

When Bonnie reached the second floor, she met with another group of (also half naked) men and a few girls with a few articles of clothing missing also. She ignored that factor and immediately grabbed one of the guys in front of her, pulling him to meet her eyes. "I need to get to the roof!"

The guy from the door caught up with her, grabbing onto her arm and puling her back. Not minutes later, a policeman called out from the first floor to the noise that went on above.

The man pulled Bonnie by the arm downward a couple of steps, holding her out before the cop. "This chic is crazy! She just barged in here. She probably wants to steal stuff. Arrest her!" he yelled. Bonnie struggled against his grip. "No you idiot. There's someone on the roof, I saw him, and I think he might jump. We have to get to the roof, now!" she pleaded. The man holding her shook his head. "No one can get on the roof. You're insane."

The officer voiced something into his two-way radio and in that small moment, Bonnie managed to break free from the man's grip and raced up the stairs. The man in his boxers ran after again, but she reached the next level quickly.

At the top of the stairs was a gray door. She pushed her way through, running from the people calling after her.

The door swung open and a cool rush of air met against her skin. The roof was barren, covered in debris and at the edge of the building—on a thin ledge—was a person standing still.

The person turned slightly, now aware of her presence. Bonnie couldn't see their face clearly so she moved slowly towards the person with her hands up. "Hey there…" she spoke with the same slowness.

"I'm Bonnie…talk to me, please you don't want to do this. "

_Oh my gosh, I have no idea how to do this_, she thought. The person turned away from her with no response.

Bonnie could hear rustling and grunts—all signs of a struggle coming from inside—and said nothing; her attention was on the person at the edge of life…literally. She took a couple of steps at a time towards the person, but as she got closer, her vision became less clear. She tried to shake her head and blinked a couple of times, but she couldn't clear her mind.

Stretching out her hand towards the figure, it turned towards her slowly to where she could make out a petite girl with pale skin and long brown hair. Bonnie squinted.

"Elena?"

The girl reached around to embrace Bonnie, gripping her tightly. After a minute, the embrace became tighter and made it difficult for Bonnie to breathe. She tried to get free, but the girl wouldn't let go. Her grasp was cold and felt like needles pinching into Bonnie's skin; it didn't feel like a touch of a person. As she struggled again, yelling for her to let go, the ground began to shake beneath their feet. The wind picked up and Bonnie's vision turned black. Amongst the now harsh wind and suffocating embrace of the girl, she could feel a slight heat coming from her chest—from where her necklace sat against her body.

"Elena…what are you doing…" she struggled to say.

Suddenly, she heard the door burst open and someone yelling for her to let go. The girl noticed that person walking over and made a strange hissing noise against them that Bonnie couldn't recognize. Her head was spinning and she gasped for breath at this point.

She couldn't see…she could hardly breathe. What was happening?

The person at the door stepped towards them, and as they did so, the girl then turned—with Bonnie still in her grasp—and stepped off the ledge.


End file.
